Alation + oterm: Complete MCP Integration

Alation is a MCP server that Unlock the power of the enterprise Data Catalog by harnessing tools provided by the Alation MCP server..

When integrated with oterm, you can:

• Retrieve metadata using natural language queries
• Search and discover data products in the catalog
• Flexible querying of catalog objects

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to set up Alation in oterm, including configuration, examples, and troubleshooting.

What You'll Achieve

After completing this setup:

• Alation will be fully integrated and operational
• You can use Alation tools directly in oterm
• All Alation capabilities will be available for your workflows
• Access to 5 different tools

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

• Alation instance URL
• Service account client ID
• Service account client secret
• oterm installed and configured
• Compatible operating system (CLI (Terminal))

Installation

Step 1: Install Alation

Configuration

Step 2: Configure oterm

1. Open oterm settings
2. Navigate to MCP server configuration
3. Add Alation server with appropriate settings
4. Save and restart if needed

Examples

Once configured, you can use Alation in oterm:

Data Discovery for Analytics

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Ask oterm: "Find all customer behavior data for Q4 analysis"

Expected Result: undefined

Data Governance Compliance

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Ask oterm: "Identify all GDPR-sensitive data and its lineage"

Expected Result: undefined

Role-Based Data Access

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Ask oterm: "Show data products available for marketing team"

Expected Result: undefined

Testing Your Setup

1. Launch oterm
2. Verify Alation is available in the tools list
3. Test basic Alation functionality

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Connection Refused

Symptoms: Failed to connect to Ollama

Cause: Ollama service is not running

Solution:

• Start Ollama with ollama serve
• Check if Ollama is running on the default port (11434)

Tool Not Found

Symptoms: Model does not use the tool, Tool execution failed

Cause: MCP server not configured correctly or crashed

Solution:

• Check the config.json for syntax errors
• Verify the MCP server command works independently in the terminal
• Ensure the model supports tool calling (e.g., llama3.1)

Alation not appearing in oterm

Symptoms: Server not listed, Tools not available

Cause: Configuration or installation issue

Solution:

• Verify configuration syntax
• Check Alation installation
• Restart oterm
• Check logs for error messages

Next Steps

Now that Alation is integrated with oterm:

• Explore all Alation capabilities through oterm
• Check out other MCP servers that work with oterm
• Join the MCP community for tips and support
• Consider contributing to Alation development

Need Help?

• Search for Alation documentation
• Check the oterm MCP guide
• Join the MCP community discussions